Don Juan Tenorio & Moroccan Letters: Critical Appraisal
Critical Appraisal of Don Juan Tenorio
Don Juan Tenorio is considered the masterpiece of José Zorrilla, catapulting him to fame. Don Juan Tenorio, a romantic drama, embodies this genre through its subject, characters, and aesthetics. The central theme is love and the salvation of a sinner.
Regarding its structure, the play is divided into two parts:
- The first part, presented in four acts, encompasses everything related to love, seduction, and challenges. It represents the world of the living and earthly pleasure.
- The second part, in three acts, focuses on the underworld, statues, and ghosts. Five years elapse between the two parts, and Doña Inés has passed away.
Main Characters:
- Don Juan: Initially mysterious, brave, and popular, he becomes more sensible, sensitive, thoughtful, and sincere after falling in love.
- Doña Inés: A young, naive, and simple girl, symbolizing the force of pure love.
- Don Luis Mejía: Don Juan’s rival, a naive and sentimental character.
- Don Gonzalo de Ulloa: Doña Inés’s father. In the first part, he is jealous of his honor, proud, and haughty. In the second part, his statue warns Don Juan that his end is near.
- Ciutti: Don Juan’s faithful servant, fearful, cowardly, and silly.
- Brígida: Doña Inés’s servant, acting as a mediator between Don Juan and Doña Inés.
Regarding dramatic resources, the play mostly respects the classical precepts of the three unities. Only the unity of action can be fully admitted, as everything converges on the protagonist. The style is characterized by grandiloquent rhetoric and polarimetry, typical of romantic theater.
Critical Appraisal of *Moroccan Letters*
José Cadalso wrote his work, *Moroccan Letters*, driven by the spirit of reform, a common cause of the enlightened minorities. Written between 1773 and 1774, it was first published in 1789. The *Moroccan Letters* belong to the epistolary genre.
Regarding its external structure, it consists of an introduction, in which the author supports the critique of customs and habits, and 90 letters exchanged between three characters. This use of multiple perspectives enables a play of opinions and critical distance from the author on the matters discussed.
The main theme of the letters is the analysis of the Spanish situation in the 18th century.
Main Characters:
- Gazel: A Moroccan traveling in Spain, interested in learning about its habits and customs. He represents one of the aspirations of the enlightened: useful travel.
- Ben-Beley: Gazel’s teacher, who has reached a certain balance of personal and intellectual maturity that transcends race and religion.
- Nuño: A Spanish Christian, unhappy, lonely, knowledgeable in history, and a lover of his homeland. He is the incarnation of the “good man,” objective and impartial, yet a concerned patriot.
Cadalso’s style is particularly notable for its variety of registers and linguistic applications. He proposes a refined style, avoiding excessive rhetoric, and embracing the clarity and precision of Neoclassical style and enlightened attitude.